In this sector, as in many others, 360° virtual tours are on the rise. 77% of real estate buyers would rather take a virtual tour before an in-person visit. 62% of people prefer to choose a real estate agency that offers virtual tours 360.

This phenomenon, escalated by the pandemic, took its place in the way of consuming of people. Taking advantage of it can drastically improve your sales.

This A to Z guide will help you navigate through the intimidating universe that is virtual reality and making your first 360 virtual tour.

Prerequisites for making a 360° virtual tour

A virtual tour 360° is composed of photos taken in 360°. Each 360° photo can represent, for example, one of the rooms in a home. These different rooms/scenes are connected by clickable points on the screen (or hotspots) which allow you to navigate from one room to another.

If you are new to the world of 360° photos, don’t panic, we advise you to first read our beginner’s guide to 360° photography.

If you are already familiar with the concept of 360° photography but do not yet have the appropriate equipment, turn directly to our guide best 360° cameras currently on the market. Also note that a 360° photo can be taken with a smartphone, although we recommend getting a dedicated camera.

Once you are familiar with the concept of 360° photography and its equipment, you are ready to make your virtual tour 360.

Make your first 360° virtual tour

Step 1: Upload your 360° images

The virtual tour is a premium feature of our service, but in just two minutes you can create your account and try this feature for 10 days free. There is no need for a credit card to register.

Once logged into your account, using your credentials, navigate to your dashboard and upload your photos via the button below.

upload-360 — Select your images from your computer then press ***Unique***

Select your files (the scenes you want to appear in the tour), then press Unique, to include all the images in the same virtual tour (which we also call a Raven)

You will then gain access to the reader which allows you to create the 360° virtual tour.

Step 2: Organize your scenes

overview-viewer-360 — *The gallery on the left of the screen allows you to organize your scenes*

The left section allows you to reorganize your scenes (by drag and drop), give a title to each of them, and download new scenes as needed.

reorder-photos-360 — *Reorganization (on the left) then renaming (on the right) of the scenes of the virtual tour 360°*

We recommend that you name all your scenes, then put them in a coherent order because this will have a significant impact on the experience of your users. You can also rename the virtual tour itself, directly in the 360° player.

Sometimes the 360° photos are not originally oriented as desired. If this happens you can change the north of the photo – which corresponds to the first view the user sees – using the last command, located at the top of the player (see below).

change-north-image — *You can change the first view of your scenes with this command (the* ***north***)

Once your different scenes have been named and organized, we can start creating navigation points (hotspots). This happens directly in the 360° player-the right part of the screen.

Directly on the image, right-click on the precise location where you want to create the navigation point.

Right click to create the hotspot — *Directly in the image, right-click where you want to place the hotspot*

You will then have the choice between creating a hotspot (clickable link to another scene) or an infospot (information point). Use the information point if – as the name suggests – you want to give information about a particular element of the image. In our case, we are more interested in navigating from one scene to another. We will therefore click on hotspot.

Select the scene you want to link to the hotspot — *After the creation of the hotspot, the gallery at the bottom of the player allows you to choose the scene to link*

The hotspot then appears in the image, and a gallery unfolds at the bottom of the player. This displays the different scenes of the virtual tour. Click on the scene you want to link to the hotspot.

360 virtual tour — *Once the scene is chosen, the hotspot updates with the name of the linked scene*

The hotspot has been updated and the gallery has folded. Of course, you can modify them after they are created. You can move them, change the orientation of the chevron, modify the linked scene or delete them.

modification-options-hotspots — *The different commands for modifying the hotspot*

That’s it, your first hotspot is in place. You can now create others (in the same way) to complete your visit. Do not hesitate to integrate infospots on points of interest in order to optimize the experience of your users.

Embed a virtual tour on a website

On the dashboard, click on the code icon. You can then paste this code directly into your HTML, where you want the viewer to appear.

For more details on this manipulation, you can consult our article dedicated to the integration of a 360° photo on a website. We also have an article specifically about integration on WordPress.

copy-embed-code — *Copy the embed code to the clipboard*

Press the share icon, you will then have access to direct sharing via Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. If you are sharing from a mobile device, you can also share it via Whatsapp or SMS.

You can also share the photo from your email sending software – installed on your computer (eg Outlook). As shown in the image below, click @. Your e-mail software should open and then automatically begin writing a new, empty message. You will find the direct link to your 360° image in the body of the email. Your recipient will only need to click on this link to access the image via the 360° viewer.

If you want to send the link from Gmail (or any other type of online messaging), the easiest way is to copy the direct link and paste it into your body text. To do so, press the direct link icon. The recipient of the message can click on the link to view your 360° photo instantly.

copy-direct-link — *The direct link points directly to your 360° virtual tour*

To summarize!

It is certain that 360 virtual tours have a bright future. If your products or services can benefit from them, it would be a shame not to use them, as they considerably improve sales rates.

To create your virtual tour:

Log on to your Panoraven account. If you don’t have one, create one for free in 5 min.
From your Dashboard, upload a series of 360° photos.

For the creation of navigation points, this video will probably be better than a long speech:tte vidéo sera probablement mieux qu’un long discours :

Finally, use the controls at the top of the player to share or embed your virtual tour on your website.

*Commands for sharing and embedding the virtual tour*

That’s it, it’s ready! We hope you enjoyed our A to Z guide on the 360° virtual tour, do not hesitate to send us your opinions or recommendations!

Flash tutorial: Create a 360° virtual tour

10 minutes 10 minutes.

How to create a 360° virtual tour

Log in to your Panoraven account
Log in to your account or create your account for free. Once logged in, this happens through your dashboard.
Upload your images
Be sure to click Single to integrate all uploaded scenes into the same virtual tour.
Reorganize and rename your scenes
A coherent order and explicit names of your scenes will ensure a good user experience.
Create navigation points (hotspots)
Right-click in the image and choose the scene linked to this hotspot. If needed, create other hotspots and/or information points to complete your virtual tour 360.
Share your 360° virtual tour
Use the controls at the top of the player to share your 360 virtual tour.

360° Virtual Tour: The A to Z Guide to Build Yours

Prerequisites for making a 360° virtual tour